


Brave Actions

by Ladadee195



Category: The Mighty Boosh (TV)
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Harry Potter References, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mutual Pining, Pre-Party Episode obviously, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-30
Updated: 2018-06-04
Packaged: 2019-05-15 21:46:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14798541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ladadee195/pseuds/Ladadee195
Summary: Howard does something brave, Vince does something braver.





	1. Man of Action

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, so I haven't written and posted a fic in over 15 some years? Just wanted to start with that because I'm nervous as hell that this sucks, but the idea has been in my head for a while and I needed to get it out there. Ain't that how it always goes folks?  
> ANYWAY, this is a WIP so if you for some reason like it, stay tuned! I might not be to nervous to write the second chapter. 
> 
> Enjoy the mess.

He hated nightclubs, with their suffocating, stuffy, smokey air. The constant and deafening noise that people considered music today. He much preferred jazz clubs; now there he could relax. Enjoy the calm, almost lazy atmosphere that only smooth jazz could provide. Even the more exciting stuff didn’t cause the same panic and headaches that a nightclub induced. At least the bar was stocked and the drinks good. Although that was definitely not going to help his rapidly swelling headache any. So why was he here at all?

 

Vince.   
  


Vince was the only answer Howard’s mind could come up with.

 

Because Vince had asked him to. Vince always asked, Howard usually assumed he did just to be nice, like he was to everyone. But that Friday afternoon the younger man had seemed so genuine and earnest for his company that Howard had immediately agreed.

 

Now, he was regretting his hasty decision.    

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

 

_ “Oh, go off ‘Oward! It’ll be genius! _ ”  _ cried the electro poof that afternoon, standing in the empty Nabootique, after asking Howard if he fancied accompanying Vince to the new night club that had opened downtown. Howard’s automatic response had been a resounding no.  _

 

_ “Maybe for you” Howard reasoned “you know I don’t enjoy those sorts of places” he could think of a billion and one more reasons not to go of course, but that might be overdoing it. “Why do you want me along anyway?” he had finally asked. An Vince had actually looked bashful for a full second before remembering himself. Which was a shame that, Howard could remember that look on younger mans face back at the zoo. When Vince had started out, and had looked to Howard for advice and leadership. Now he barely got a smile, let alone such a look that he got now. Of course then Vince had to go and say something to ruin it.  _

 

_ “Leroy’s out of town this weekend, can’t go by myself can I?”  _ __   
__   
_ “Oh, so I’m just your second choice then am I?” Howard asked, trying not to let his annoyance at the slight offence come through. Unfortunately Vince saw right through that, and smiled in amusement and fondness. _ __   
__   
_ “Nah, you’re always the first choice Howard, but since you never wanna come with I gotta make do with Leroy, who while has great fashion sense and music tastes, and knows everyone in Camden, and tells the best stories. He isn’t you” _ __   
__   
_ “He works at a kiosk” Howard commented before focusing on that last bit. Realizing that Vince meant what he said, he WANTED Howard there tonight. For whatever reason he hadn’t just asked to be nice, or because Howard was his second choice. No he had asked because he truly wanted his best friend to go. “Alright, fine, I shall accompany you to your club tonight on one condition”  _ __   
__   
_ Vince sighed and rolled his eyes so hard Howard was sure they would have flown away at the force.  _ __   
_   
_ __ “Yea, wot is it?” there was an air of impatient frustration in the tone, but Howard didn’t let that stop him.

 

_ “You will not, and I mean WILL NOT, comment on what I wear tonight”  _

 

_ “Wot!? But Howard, this is a well trendy place! I can’t just let you go about in your tweed, and roll necks looking like a bloody ponce! They’ll kick us out!”  _

 

_ “Well I’m afraid little man that you’ll have to go by yourself, and look a fool.” retorted Howard with just a bit of smug satisfaction at the look on Vince’s pointy face. The younger man simply huffed in frustration and gave the taller man a look of contemplation. It wasn’t a look Howard saw much and it made him even more pleased than before.  _ __   
_   
_ _ “Alright fine, wotever, just  _ **_please_ ** __ try and pick something better then...then what your wearing now?” reasoned Vince. Ignoring the slight and expected insult on Howard’s fashion sense, the emphatic please caught the jazz mavericks attention however. He never cared much if his supposed fashion sense (or lack thereof) upset Vince. He wasn’t there to appease the younger man after all, even if he did time and time again. But that please mattered, it was important to Vince. An even though Howard didn’t get why, he still understood that it was important. Hadn’t Vince, in the past done things for Howard that the younger man didn’t understand the importance of? But still KNEW that they were important?   

 

_ Hadn’t Vince hunted for that incredibly rare jazz LP? Hadn’t he gifted it to Howard for Christmas? Knowing how much it would please his flatmate? Sure, Vince had demanded that it not be played around him but still, the gesture was clear and simple.  _

 

_ If Vince could do something like that, despite his allergies, couldn’t Howard do this for Vince? _

_ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _

 

An so, here Howard sat. Having tried, to the best of his ability to don an outfit that wouldn’t distress Vince, or get them evicted from the premises. He had forgone his first instinct, a bold umber blazer with his patent mustard yellow elbow patches. Over a stylish checkered shirt in various colors of burnt orange and brown. He had even decided against his normal brown cords, instead choosing an older faded pair of jeans he forgot he owned. After that he had spent an embarrassingly long time searching for something, anything, that Vince wouldn’t hate. Finally, at the back of his modest chest of draws he had found a t-shirt that, if he recalled was given to him (by Vince) one random day after a successful shopping trip. At the time, he recalled being shocked that the smaller man had even thought of him let alone bought him a shirt. It was black, with an emblazoned faded golden saxophone on the front. He had hidden it away for two reasons; it was too flashy for him and he didn’t want to ruin it by wearing it, but for tonight it was perfect. As was the slate grey blazer he added as an afterthought, this time, sans elbow patches. He still thought so, even though he felt out of place, uncomfortable, a little warm, and definitely buzzed. 

 

Sitting at an empty booth for the last hour and half, he hadn’t seen Vince in two hours. Obviously the glittery tart had gotten over the need for Howard’s company once they had made it into the place. An wasn’t that bloody typical, thought Howard glumly, staring at his half empty bottle of foreign beer.

 

“Howard?” a familiar confused voice asked. Looking up, Howard was surprised to find Leroy blinking at him in a glittery cold shoulder, and skinny jeans. Obviously NOT out of town like Vince had said. The confusion must have shown on his face because Leroy suddenly laughed and joined him in the booth.   
  
“When Vince said he had a date, I didn’t think he meant you” said Leory with an amused laugh, taking a long sip from the fruity smelling cocktail in his hand.

  
“A date? No sir, I graciously agreed to join him here tonight under the agreement of company” corrected Howard, finishing off his beer with what he hoped was a cool flourish, but probably looked awkward and foolish.

 

“yea a date” laughed Leory with a smirk “I mean, I know you never been on one and all but-”   
  
“-if this were a date, which it isn’t, wouldn’t Vince be here right now? Instead of off with who ever? Doing whatever?” interrupted the affronted northerner.    
  
“What do ya mean, he’s at the bar” said Leory, gesturing towards the bar at the back of club with his thumb. “Has been all night actually, which is well weird ain’t it? I tried to get him to dance and what not” he then gives Howard a strange look “He was happy to see me but looked...freaked out?” 

_   
_ Howard didn’t respond, or couldn’t. He was even more confused than before; first, Vince asks him to come along to the club, then leaves him alone all night, and THEN spends all night at the bar. To top it off, he was apparently acting strange, strange around Leory of all people. Of course Vince had lied to Howard about Leory’s whereabouts it seemed, but Howard wasn’t going to tell the other man that. 

 

He supposed the best course of action was to actually talk to the younger man about it, besides he could use another drink.

* * *

 

Winding his way through the crowds of people, Howard made his way towards the bar. It was a horseshoe shaped affair with a lit up art installation behind it that blazed different colors in quick succession. All very trendy and modern, it hurt Howard’s eyes. 

 

As he approached the bar, he caught sight of Vince sitting hunched over the bar top, a colorful cocktail in front of him that he wasn’t drinking, he looked withdrawn. Which just wasn’t right in Howard’s opinion. Vince was meant to be outgoing and cheery, eternal sunshine, and rainbows. An yet when the blonde waitress behind the bar spoke to him, Vince flashed a flirty smile and said something back which sent the blonde giggling. Howard tried vainly to stomp down on the uncomfortable heat in his chest at the sight. 

 

It didn’t help that Vince was also wearing a black cold shoulder blouse with gold poke-a-dots decorated on it.  It barely had sleeves, only ruffled bits of fabric that hung down his sinewy upper arms. The gold spots seemed to glimmer under the ever changing lights. For a brief uninterrupted moment Howard let him self admired his friend from afar, for Vince did look particularly lovely sitting there under the flashing lights. Hair, perfectly backcombed and styled, makeup expertly applied in a subtle but striking way. In that moment the music and noise fell away, even the lights blurred and faded. It could’ve been that Howard was simply more buzzed then he thought or more probably he might just be unceremoniously a bit in love with his best friend. 

 

The thought stopped him dead in his tracks about 10 or 20 feet from his destination. That couldn’t be right could it? 

 

He couldn’t be in love with his best friend could he? The question alone rooted him to the spot, like a big confused tree. He could feel people jossel past him. He knew they were giving him dirty looks.

Light lightening, the ephiny had struck his brain momentarily dumb. It felt like the chokes, only he couldn’t focus and his breathing had become labored.

 

Oh.

 

It was a panic attack.

 

Much more plausible.

 

The sudden return of light and sound came courtesy of being knocked into from behind roughly by another man. Almost as tall as Howard himself, but obviously more muscular and broad. Howard watched as the other man made a straight beeline for the surprize object of Howard’s apparent affection, Vince. His own confusion and panic forgotten, Howard felt his blood cold run as he watched the bigger man sit next to Vince and throw a beefy arm around the glam prince’s skinny shoulders. 

 

Howard watched as Vince said something to the man, it must have been rude because the man didn’t look pleased. 

 

He watched as the man’s grip tightened. 

 

He watched the man’s big stubby fingers curl around the fabric of Vince’s sleeve.

 

He watched the man lean in close and say something, a self satisfied smirk taking over his ugly mug. 

 

Whatever the muscular man had said, it made Vince scowl in distaste and immediately try to remove himself from the man’s presence. He didn’t get far before the bigger man jerked him back, making Vince let out a barely audible yelp, before wincing in fear. 

 

He didn’t notice the other man stand, intent on pulling Vince with him, because everything had gone hazy after that. 

 

One moment Howard was stone still, the next he was rushing through the crowd. A women screamed when a table was overturned. He heard his name yelled in alarm before he felt the sickening crunch of bones under his fist. With an almighty crash the brute was sent staggering back, falling into another table. Breathing heavily from the sudden surge of adrenaline infused excursion, Howard felt himself be tugged away until suddenly he was outside. 

 

The cool but pleasant night air of approaching summer brought him back to full awareness; only to realize that Vince was dragging him down the sidewalk, that and his hand hurt.     

  
  



	2. Futuristic Prostitute

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! second chapter! who is feeling the magic! I actually like this chapter more! and its longer as well so that's good yea?

All in all as plans go this wasn’t half bad…

Oh, who was he kidding? He should fire the plan pony.

First, he had successfully somehow convinced Howard to go to the club with him, under the guise that Vince simply wanted company. After lying about Leroy being out of town, which he wasn’t! What sort of mate couldn’t adhere to a plan that he was never privy to? Besides is not as if it wasn’t the truth; Vince did generally want Howard’s company. This of course wasn’t what he had been shooting for though. 

Although to be fair he only had himself to blame. Tricking his best mate into a date, only to hide away all night. Oh yes, good one Noir, well done! Yup, definitely needed to fire the plan pony. An really, after that cock up it was only a matter of time before things got worse; and things got worse. At first he had meant to be nice to the man that approached him, it came naturally after all. But the bloke had seriously thought that Vince was a prozzie! Honestly, it was funny when it was obviously a joke but Vince could tell this guy wasn’t fooling. He hadn’t realized what sort of trouble he was in until the bigger man got rough and angry. Vince supposed he shouldn’t have told him to let go and get lost when the bigger man had touched him. 

Vince never thought he would understand Howard’s ‘don’t touch me’ rule until now. The feel of he man’s hand on his shoulder made him shudder in disgust. He hated to think that this was how Howard felt when Vince got up the courage to reach out for him. 

This night REALLY wasn’t going the way Vince had thought it would go when he and the aforementioned pony had come up with it. At the time he had thought it a genius idea, spend some time with Howard in a date like setting without the older man knowing! It would have definitely saved Vince the embarrassment of outright asking, and the disappointment when he was predictably shot down. Then he had ruined it by running away and hiding at the bar like a wimp. 

This wasn’t where he wanted to be, being propositioned by a ugly bloke with mean eyes and a bald spot. Who thought Vince was a prostitute and wouldn’t take no for an answer. He wanted to be in Howards arms, either on the dance floor or more interestingly, in bed. With that thought in mind, Vince decided that he had enough and wanted to find Howard. He tried to remove himself but was pulled back against the bigger man. Vince couldn’t stop the shocked yelp nor the wince that followed. He was scared, and the the great big geezer was gonna kill him, or rape him, or worse. What was worse? Vince didn’t wanted to find out. 

He was so engrossed in what might or might not happen to him, he barely registered the man tugging him off his stool to take him Jagger knows where. What he did notice however was a sudden bout of activity and then suddenly there was Howard! Vince yelled for him just before the saw the jazz maverick punch the brute square in the face, sending the much bigger man crashing into a table. People screamed and scattered, and in the comotion Vince managed grabbed Howard’s hand and ran. The older man followed without hesitation, but when Vince looked back at him he could see a dazed look in those little eyes. 

___________________________________________________________________________

Once outside, the night air hit Vince all at once and he let out a gasp when it did. Half way down the block he felt Howard finally re-act, curling his big hand around Vince’s smaller one and holding tight. Vince couldn’t help a little smile at that, and when he looked back Howard was watching him with a strange look of awe. As if Vince had been the one to punch out the geezer in one glorious moment, instead of the other way around. The warm hand in his and the shocked look in Howards eyes made him feel warm, god he hoped he wasn’t blushing. The adrenalin had run its course, and they were now a few blocks away. Of course that was when Vince turned, let go of Howard and scowled.

“I could’ve handled ‘em” he said crossing his arms and cocking a hip, trying to look stern but it probably came across as sassy, which worked too he supposed. “It was fine you know, you didn’t havfta do that! Did you see the mess you caused!” continued Vince. He wasn’t wrong, he could have taken the guy! Vince had been in worse situations and gotten out just fine. 

He felt wrong somehow for scolding Howard. Wasn’t it meant to be the other way around?

He was angry though, angry at himself for ruining the plan even more, angry at the plan for being stupid, angry at Howard. Not for what he did though, what he did was amazing, brave, wonderful! No he was angry at Howard for giving him those butterflies that filled not only his belly but his chest as well. Angry that the older man managed to, without meaning to, make him go red for doing the simplest things. Like the outfit he wore. Sure he had on the same dumb brown shoes, and did NOTHING to his hair but Vince knew he had tried somewhat on the clothes. He was wearing the shirt Vince had gotten him a long while ago, he knew it would look genius on the northerner, and it did. Specially with the smart grey blazer. An even though he looked better, he still looked to be in shambles which made Vince’s heart beat faster when he took it all in. 

It seemed that Howard had completely shaken himself out of his stupor to retaliate. 

“Mess? Your worried about the mess? When you almost got molested right there in the middle of the sodden club!?” 

Vince didn’t need to be reminded, he didn’t want to think about it. It's not as if it hadn’t almost happened before. 

“Yes I’m worried about the mess, you freaked everyone out, what were you thinking?” 

“I was thinking that you were in trouble little man, I didn’t see anyone else stepping up to the plate, no sir. I took some action!” boasted Howard looking proud of himself for the first time that night “An what do I get for that show of bravery? You yelling in my face and a bruised hand!” He said showing Vince his rapidly bruising knuckles. It must have been like punching a brick house thought Vince when he saw the damage. His anger left him in those moments. Now wasn’t the time to bicker he figured. They could do that later, and then maybe have a laugh. For now they should probably fix up Howard’s hand. 

“Alright alright, I won't yell no more just...come on ya great lump, let's go” said Vince rolling his eyes and taking Howard’s uninjured hand in his and leading them down the pavement again. Howard didn’t respond, just followed as ordered. 

____________________________________________________________________________

Neither of them said a word the whole rest of the way home. Which suited Vince just fine, he didn’t feel like talking about all that happened in the last hour, it would only lead to more bickering anyway. He didn’t want to analyze it too much either, because if he thought about it hard, he would logically know that Howard was simply helping him out. Sure it was in an uncharacteristically violent way, but he was still helping.

Vince was actually rather impressed, grateful, flattered even that Howard had the courage to save him like that. It wasn’t as if they hadn’t saved each other in the past. Vince saved Howard from a funky lovestruck manfish, and Howard saved Vince from a rogue jazz cell. Except they never had to go around throwing punches at creepy perverts, unless you count people like Kodiak Jack, and Vince dealt with that efficiently enough. Yeah, he didn’t want to think about it. All he wanted to do was get to the flat, patch up Howard, and maybe never talk about this ever again. 

About 10 minutes later found them both on the sofa. Howard watched quietly as Vince spread ointment on his injured hand before wrapping it with bandage tape. The silence from before had been nice, but now it upset Vince. The older man wasn’t usually talkative, unless he was excited. To hear him totally silent, not uttering more boasts about what he had done that night unsettled Vince. Maybe he was more shaken from the events then he thought? That might be why he couldn’t seem to meet Howards gaze, which had been fixed on him the whole way home. That was also something Howard never did. The night was just full of surprizes, Vince thought finishing up wrapping Howard’s hand and then standing to wash his own. 

“Tea?” asked Vince, hoping to calm himself. It took Howard a moment to respond.

“Hm? Oh, yes please” 

Vince nodded and went about filling the kettle and starting it. Once he was finished he leant against the counter and stared at his shiny gold boots, realizing that there was a awkward silence in the air. Thankfully Howard once again saved Vince by filling the silence with a nervous chuckle.

“Some night eh little man?” 

All Vince could do was smile at him before biting down on his thumb and wrapping an arm around his middle in a comforting gesture. They were both saved any other embarrassing comments or awkward silences when the kettle went off. After fetching the teabags and pouring them both a cup, a splash of milk for Howard and five big spoonfuls of sugar for himself, Vince rejoined Howard on the couch. Howard had put his tea aside to cool while Vince kept his in hand, letting the hot cup warm his hands until it became to much and he too had to put it aside.

“Oh!” exclaimed Howard suddenly reaching up and drawing Vince’s attention to his sleeve, it was ripped. The seam had been completely popped and now the ruffled fabric hung limply down Vince’s bicep. He hadn’t noticed, he found him self not caring either. Besides it wasn’t badly damaged. It could be fixed with a simple run through the sewing machine. 

“That arsehole must have ripped it when…” here Vince paused and finally looked at Howard, the older man was focused on the sleeve. “...when you clocked him. That was genius by the way! He didn’t even see you coming! You just woosh!” Vince said, miming the punch, using the couch as a makeshift punching bag. It seemed that he couldn’t shut up now. “Seriously! Didn’t know you had it in ya O’ward! That was well brave. Reckon you could be sorted into that griffin house from those wizard books!” 

“Gryffindor Vince” corrected Howard with a fond smile.

“Wots it?” Vince responded, trying not to let that smile go to his head. It didn’t mean anything. If anything it Howard was just amused by him.

“Nevermind” Howard said laying his uninjured hand on Vince’s bare shoulder, his big warm hand. The unexpected contact made Vince go still. He must have tensed up because he saw Howard frown at him. 

But he didn’t let go like Vince expected him to. No, in-fact he started rubbing the exposed skin. Obviously trying to ease and calm Vince, but it had the opposite effect and had Vince feeling more tense then before. Howard was intentionally touching him! Not because he was asked or to stop Vince from doing something stupid, but because he wanted to, he wanted to help. 

“Are you alright Vince? I know the night probably wasn’t what you imagined-”

“-you can say that again” muttered Vince a little to loudly. The interruption made Howard pause and blink. Vince could literally see the cogs turning in the taller man’s mind tank. It made Vince want to run and hide, but Howard’s hand was still on his shoulder.

“Vince…was, was this a...a date?” Howard managed to choke out, finally breaking eye contact. Vince’s luminous blue eyes widened at the bold question. Howard wasn’t meant to find out!

“Wot?!” he squawked shrugging off Howard’s hand “why, why would you think that!? O’course it wasn’t….” 

“Oh, well Leroy seemed to think that it was, I told him that he was mistaken of course” replied Howard. Vince missed the look of disappointment on his face, to angry with Leroy for unintentionally letting the cat out of the bag. Great, now he was going to have to drop Leroy along with firing the plan pony.

“Yeah, well he was alright?” He said, throwing himself against couch cushions and crossing his arms. He knew he sounded childish and moody but he didn’t care, not with the way the night was ending. 

“Thing is, I wouldn’t have minded, if it had been you know” 

that single small confession made Vince freeze in shock. He slowly glanced at Howard, finding the older man looking anywhere but at him. Now that was more like it. Vince liked the punch throwing, courage having man of action just fine but there was something about the nervous, twitchy jazz freak that made Vince’s heart flutter. Maybe the night wouldn’t end badly after all. 

Without thinking about it to much, Vince turned towards Howard again, one foot curled under him while the other stayed planted firmly on the floor. Taking a deep breath to steel himself, he reached up and laid his surprisingly still hands on Howard’s broad shoulders. When the other man still didn’t meet his eyes however, Vince gently smoothed his hands across his shoulders until they rested on his chest. At Vince’s gentle touch he felt Howard’s breathing speed up, whether in panic or apprehension Vince didn’t know, he couldn’t believe that he hadn’t been told not to touch yet. The lack of negative response spurred Vince on.

Rubbing his hands up the taller man’s chest, he brought them up to caress a stubble lined jaw. Finally, they’re eyes met and Howard gasped, which caused Vince to grin. 

“It was a date” he said softly before slowly leaning forward and up to place a chaste kiss on the other man’s lips. It was meant to be chaste anyway, a simple soft peck, but when Vince felt Howard’s clumsy but eager response he couldn’t help surging forward and pressing against him. Now on his knees, Vince felt arms wrap around his waist to keep him steady as the kiss deepend. Soft lips beneath his own, the slight maddening tickle of mocha stain mustache, those big hands wandering up and down his back then around his sides to slip under the flimsy fabric of his blouse all caused Vince to let out a deep moan of pleasure. A second later the moan turned to one of disappointment when Howard broke away, gasping at much needed air. Neither of them would let go of the other though, they simply stared for a moment.

“Why did you lie then?” Howard finally asked, settling his warm hands on Vince’s skinny hips. 

Vince ducked his head in embarrassment, letting his fringe fall into his eyes. He smiled when it was brushed carefully back by the older man. He looked up then, sapphire blue eyes met golden brown, his smile widened.

“I was scared that you would say no…” he admitted quietly, almost a whisper at this point.

“You still scared?” Howard asked, bringing his hand down to cup his face. 

Vince sighed lovingly, shaking his head before responding “No” then leaning forward once more and capturing the jazz mavericks soft lips once again. The movement threw them off balance and they fell backwards. Vince lying comfortably against Howard as they continued to explore each others mouths.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An there ya go, again I have no idea what I'm doing but I hope it was somewhat enjoyable. Thanks for reading.

**Author's Note:**

> An there ya go.  
> I'm rusty AF can you tell?


End file.
